Industrial Agriculture

Kansas hosts some of the world’s largest concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), mainly cattle feedlots and hog factories, located primarily in the drought-prone areas of western Kansas. In the 1990s the Kansas Chapter worked with rural citizens who were fighting new CAFOs and succeeded in getting new regulations through the legislature. However, these are generally inadequate to protect our aquifers and do little to protect neighbors from dust & noxious odors. The rules did require CAFOs to report more data that helps us monitor their impacts on the environment. We continue to respond to requests for help from rural citizens consistent with the Chapter’s focus on improving air and water quality in the state and building mutual understanding with family farmers.

The intensive burning and overstocking of grasslands in the Flint Hills has caused serious air quality problems in eastern Kansas and downwind states such as Nebraska and Missouri. It is destroying valuable habitat for grassland birds. The Chapter is promoting a new patch burn technique that recent research indicates preserves wildlife habitat without significantly hurting ranching productivity.

Industrial agriculture is also significant source of greenhouse gases, so the Chapter recognizes the need for people to pursue a healthier diet containing less processed food and meat. Thus we support efforts to connect urban food consumers with family farmers who produce organically grown crops and humanely raised, free-range animal products. The Kansas City Food Circle (www.kcfoodcircle.org) and the Kansas Rural Center (www.KansasRuralCenter.org) are good resources in this regard.

The following is a Kansas Sierra Club Press Release on October 20, 2014 October 20, 2014 For Immediate Release For More information contact Craig Volland at 913-334-0556 or hartwood2@kc.rr.com The April, 2014 rangeland burning season in the Kansas Flint Hills resulted in eleven exce

Press Release MonitorShutDownPR Fact Sheet on Shutdown of Konza Prairie Ozone Monitor 1. The Konza Prairie Monitor. Installed in 2002, is described at this site: http://www.epa.gov/castnet/javaweb/site_pages/KNZ184.html It is not part of the network of air quality monitors run by stat

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